Jaguars’ improbable game-winning play against the Chiefs might be one Ben Johnson quietly adds to his evolving playbook
He’s always looking to add a new trick play.
The Jacksonville Jaguars pulled off an big win over the Kansas City Chiefs to close out the Week 5 NFL slate on Monday Night Football thanks to the play of quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who finished the game with three total touchdowns.
Lawrence’s second rushing touchdown of the night with 24 seconds remaining sealed the win for the Jaguars but it’s clear the play was far from designed.
After taking the snap under center, Lawrence tripped and fell on his drop back, got back to his feet, and was able to get out of pocket for a one-yard touchdown. It was a very improbable way to win a game on national television with everyone watching at home.
While reacting to the play on X/Twitter, NFL Insider Ian Rapoport jokingly wrote “add this to the playbook” but, Rapoport has a point. And it could actually be something another team does.
Ben Johnson might have just found his new trick play to add to the playbook
While the Jaguars’ play on Monday was more of an improvised decision by Lawrence that paid off in a huge way, other teams could steal that play design as an intended trick play in the future. And the most likely culprit to pull something like that off is Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson.
While with the Detroit Lions, Johnson was known for his trick play antics and he’s already carried that trend over to Chicago just four games into his first head coach role. Pulling off a similar play with quarterback Caleb Williams and his mobility isn’t outside the realm of possibility.
The Bears have already tried a “stumble” play with Williams in Week 4 against the Las Vegas Raiders and pairing the stumble with a designed QB run could actually be a sneaky good red zone play to keep in the back pocket.
Creating a designed trick play from an improvised mistake is exactly how Johnson created the original “Stumble Bum” he used in Detroit against the Bears back in 2024 by watching a broken play the Green Bay Packers accidently succeeded on the year before.
“That was our inspiration from it,” Johnson explained in January. “It was from a year ago, Jordan Love stumbled coming out and they pretty much ran the same play but that was by accident. So we said, ‘Hey you think we can pull this off but actually do it on purpose?’ It started with a [wondering] if we put the ball on the ground to start it, but the players took it, ran with it, I think half the team was yelling fumble when that thing happened. Listen, it worked out great.”
That it did and the Bears were not happy to be at the laughing end of that play. But, now Johnson and his trick play creativeness are in Chicago and we’ve already seen some of Johnson’s trick play magic work out perfectly this season.
Johnson always has his eyes out for new trick plays and seeing what works around the league. After seeing the Jaguars steal one against the Chiefs on Monday night with that improbable play, it’s highly likely we see Johnson try a similar looking play by design in the future.
Chicago Bears News
Commanders’ clutch play to seal Week 5 win might give Caleb Williams extra motivation to improve a key weakness before Week 6
It’s an area he needs to improve in.
